In the Midst of Death

'I've just been to seeBroadfield ,' I said. 'I'm working for him. He says he didn't kill the Carr woman.'

'Naturally he'd say that, wouldn't he? I understand her body was found in his apartment.'

I nodded. 'He figures he was deliberately framed for her murder.

He wants me to try and find out who framed him.'

'I see.' He was somewhat less interested in me now since I was just trying to solve a murder. He'd been hoping I was going to help him louse up an entire police department. 'Well. I'm not certain how our office would be involved.'

'Maybe you're not. I just want a fuller picture. I don't knowBroadfieldwell, I just met him the first time Tuesday. He's a tricky customer. I can't always tell when he's lying to me.'

A trace of a smile appeared on ClaudeLorbeer's lips. It looked out of place there. 'I like the way you put it,' he said. 'He is a subtle liar, isn't he?'

'That's what's hard to tell. How subtle is he, and how much does he lie? He says he just came over and volunteered his services to you people. That you didn't have to force him into it.'

'That's quite true.'

'It's hard to believe.'

Lorbeermade a tent of his fingertips. 'No harder for you than for us,' he said. 'Broadfieldjust walked in off the street. He didn't even call first to tell us he was coming. We'd never heard of him before he barged in offering us the earth and asking nothing in return.'

'That doesn't make sense.'

'I know it.' He leaned forward, his expression one of great concentration. I suppose he was about twenty- eight. His manner put extra years on him, but when he grew intense those years dropped away and you realized how young he was underneath it all. 'That's what makes it so difficult to place credence in anything the man says, Mr.

Scudder. One can see no possible motivation for him. Oh, he asked for immunity from prosecution for anything he might disclose that implicatedhimself , but we grant that automatically. But he didn't want anything beyond that.'

'Then why did he come here?'

'I have no idea. I'll tell you something. I distrusted him immediately. Not because he's crooked. We deal with crooks all the time. We have to deal with crooks, but at least they are rational crooks, and his behavior was irrational. I told Mr.Prejanian that I didn't trustBroadfield . I said I felt he was a kook, an oddball. I didn't want to get involved with him at all.'

'And you said as much toPrejanian .'

'Yes, I did. I would have been happy to believe thatBroadfield had had some sort of religious experience and turned into a completely new person. Perhaps that sort of thing happens. Not very often, I don't suppose.'

'Probably not.'

'But he didn't even pretend that was the case. He was the same man he'd been before, cynical and breezy and very much the operator.'

He sighed.'Now Mr.Prejanian agrees with me. He's sorry we ever got involved withBroadfield . The man's evidently committed a murder, and, oh, even before that there was the unfortunate publicity which resulted from the charges that woman brought against him. It could all put us in something of a delicate position. We didn't do anything, you know, but the publicity can hardly work to our advantage.'

I nodded. 'AboutBroadfield ,' I said. 'Did you see him often?'

'Not very often.He worked directly with Mr.Prejanian .'

'Did he ever bring anyone to this office?A woman?'

'No, he was always alone.'

'DidPrejanian or anyone from this office ever meet him elsewhere?'

'No, he always came here.'

'Do you know where his apartment was?'

'Barrow Street, wasn't it?' I perked up at that, but then he said, 'I didn't even know he had an apartment inNew York , but there was something about it in the newspaper, wasn't there? I think it was someplace inGreenwich Village .'

'Did Portia Carr's name ever come up?'

'That's the woman he murdered, isn't it?'

'That's the woman who was murdered.'

He managed a smile. 'I stand corrected. I suppose one cannot jump to conclusions, however obvious they seem. No, I'm sure I never heard her name before that item appeared in Monday's newspaper.'

I showed him Portia's photo, torn from the morning's News. I added some verbal description. But he had never seen her before.

'Let me see if I have it all straight,' he said. 'He was extorting money from this woman. A hundred dollars a week, I believe it was?

And she exposed him Monday, and last night she was murdered in his apartment.'

'She said he was extorting money from her. I met her and she told me the same story. I think she was